Wishful Thinking

October 24, 2004

Coconut Panna Cotta and Pineapple Gelée Terrine (IMBB 9)

Three weeks ago when Derrick announced that the theme of this month’s Is My Blog Burning? would be terrines, the possibilities seemed limitless. But fast forward to yesterday, and I was clueless as to what I would be making. All my sources had come up empty – there were an abundance of terrine recipes, but none looked appealing enough to make. Desperate for ideas, I turned to my flavour matching guide, Culinary Artistry, and chose the ingredient pairing of pineapple and coconut.

What should I make? A terrine of pineapple and coconut sorbets? A coconut terrine cake sandwiching layers of pineapple chutney? After several minutes of careful thought, and an hour of television to ease my mind, I settled on coconut panna cotta and pineapple gelée for its lightness and smooth texture. I didn’t have a recipe for either, but at least I now knew what I was doing.

I spent last night reading various panna cotta and coconut-flavoured recipes, and made the terrine this morning. The recipe I came up with is quite straightforward, and the terrine was delicious and refreshing. The intense and slightly tart pineapple gelée balances the light and creamy coconut panna cotta. Both melt in your mouth at about the same rate, so the flavours blend together nicely. For garnish and to provide textural contrast, I added some pineapple brunoise, coconut shavings, and pineapple glaze on the side.

The recipe makes one 5.5”x2.75”x1.75” terrine, and should be prepared at least one day before serving.

In a saucepan, combine milk, cream, sugar and coconut. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and leave for 1 hour to allow flavours to infuse. Strain mixture into a bowl and discard coconut solids. Cover and refrigerate mixture overnight or for at least 3 hours.

Strain coconut mixture and transfer to a small saucepan. Heat mixture over medium heat and stir in gelatin until dissolved. Strain into a measuring glass and let it cool to room temperature; you should have about 1 cup of liquid.

To prepare the pineapple, cut off the crown and use a chef’s knife to the remove skin. Use a paring knife to cut diagonal grooves along the pineapple to remove its eyes. Cut the pineapple lengthwise into quarters. Remove and discard (or eat) the core, the tough upper ¾-inch triangle.

Reserve a small 2”x3” piece of pineapple for garnish. Coarsely chop the remaining pineapple into small pieces and puree in a food processor until smooth. Pour puree into a cheesecloth-lined sieve to extract pineapple juice. Repeat as necessary until the juice contains no pulp or solids. You should have about 1 ½ cups of pineapple juice.

In a saucepan, combine pineapple juice and sugar, and simmer until reduced to 1 cup. Remove from heat and pour half of the juice into a container. Add the gelatin to the remaining juice, stirring until dissolved. Strain mixture into a measuring cup and let it cool to room temperature.

Pineapple Reduction

In a saucepan over medium heat, reduce the remaining ½ cup of pineapple juice until it is thickens to a syrup consistency, about 2 tablespoons.

Place a stainless steel or coated 5.5” x 2.75” x 1.75” loaf pan on a flat and level surface in the refrigerator. Pour a 3/8-inch layer of coconut mixture into the pan and chill for 30 minutes or until set. Pour a 1/4-inch layer of pineapple juice, and chill for 30 minutes or until set. Continue to pour and chill two more layers of coconut mixture, sandwiching one layer of pineapple juice.

When ready to serve, dip loaf pan in warm water for 10 to 15 seconds to loosen the terrine. Place a plate over the loaf pan , flip upright and remove pan.

Use a dry, hot knife to cut the terrine into slices. Garnish with pineapple, shredded coconut and pineapple reduction.

Wow!! That looks like an absolutely perfect terrine! I had coconut panacotta for the first time about a week ago and absolutely fell in love. When I work up the courage to tackle another terrine, maybe I'll give this recipe a go! Thanks for sharing.

Wow, indeed! Thanks for sharing your terrine. It is so beautiful and glistening with perfectly straight layers! I love the contrast between the translucent pineapple gelée and the opaque coconut panna cotta. Very inspiring!

I don't know how you do this, but it must be a gift from above! The most amazing pictures, posts and inspiration comes from this place - keep up the good work! Uh, and of course, ditto on what everyone else said about the terrine! I've been to intimidated to even try panna cotta, and then to put it into a terrine... WOA!

Thank you all for your kind words. You've certainly given me lots of motivation to continue to cook and write!

Getting the terrine layers straight and smooth was very easy. Just pour the liquids into the mold and chill until set; then warm it in water and it should come out clean and shiny. The terrine was also quite small, which made it easy to handle.

Hi Scott - Cool each layer for about 30 minutes or until set, before pouring on the next layer. Before you begin layering, let both liquids cool to room temperature, so there's no chance that the liquid will melt the layer below. Also, use a stainless steel or coated mold, since an aluminium mold may react with the acidic pineapple juice. Thanks for the notice, and sorry for the confusion; I'll clarify the recipe.

Hi Jessica - I think heating the pineapple helps reduce the ability of its enzymes to break down the collagen in the gelatin. I'm not sure how long or at what temperature the pineapple needs to be heated for the gelatin to work, but in my case, I simmered the pineapple juice for 5 to 10 minutes when I reduced it down to a cup.

I was so impressed with your picture that I am going to use your recipe for my terrine on my buffet table (for my practical presentation for my Garde Mange class) I am making a caribean theamed buffet table. I'll let you know how it all works out.

Hi Stef - The smoothness is just a result of the loaf pan being dipped in warm water in order to remove the terrine from its mold. Essentially I'm melting the surface, so that's why it's so shiny and smooth.

Thanks so much Lyn.

Hi Beth - Wow, I'm flattered! I hope it works out for you! The terrine is quite delicate, so the smaller the mold, the easier it is to handle.

Wow! My practical went great all the big wig chefs from the area attended and were blown away. I added a little extra gelatin since my terrine had to basically sit on a buffet. I sliced it and arranged it on a round mirror. In the middle I had a hollowed out pineapple with a tweeked variation of the reduction and a few pineapple rings to fill the negative space. They were floored by the look and the taste. I got an "A" and a job Thank You!

Oh My GOD!!! This was super fantastic. I was going out to a freinds house and was treating him for dinner. I made a light meal, mostly seafood, and to finsh off for dessert I made this, He was completely speechless, maybe a couple of wows and nodding of the head. I live for that. I went to culinary school for a while and i love trying new things. Thank you for the extra added keeping everyone impressed. I think they still keep me around cuz of food like this. Thank you thank you thank you.

Hi Kyle, my understanding that Thomas Keller invented butter-poached lobster is based on Florence Fabricant's 2002 New York Times article entitled "A chef invents a lobster dish" which can be found here. The article suggests that most butter-poached lobster dishes currently found at restaurants originate from Keller's recipe, but there may have been cases where variations of the technique were used prior to Keller. For me at least, this qualifies as "inventing," but it's a technicality nonetheless, and you could probably make a counter arguement. Certainly the technique of butter-poaching is much more relevant and important, as it’s incredibly delicious!